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Quest for Transportation Day 4
Description Welcome to The VFK Transportation Epic Quest Day 4 - Automobiles! The automobile is ranked as one of the most revolutionary inventions since the wheel in the history of transportation. The concept of the automobile is basic, you just need to take a wheeled vehicle such as those pulled by horses, and add a motor. The end result is self propelled personal transportation which in turn changed the world. For the fourth day of our epic quest for Transportation, we will look at the history of the automobile. Your reward for completing this quest will be 1,000 credits, and the Automobile Pin! Prizes Questions 1. European inventors began developing motor powered vehicles in the late 1700's. The first vehicle to be self propelled that history records was steam powered. It was designed by Nicholas Joseph Cugnot. Two of these vehicles were constructed, the second weighing 4 tons and having a speed of 2 mph. For what other reason is the vehicle noteworthy besides being able to travel under its own power? * Hauled cannons around town * Tended to tip over forward if not counterweighted * First recorded car crash * All of the above 2. The first self propelled vehicles were so heavy that they needed a flat surface and iron rails to run on. For the next 125 years, vehicles that required rails were primarily developed until by the 1830's numerous inventors started working on practical vehicles that did not require rails. These vehicles more closely resembled trains without the tracks than cars. Go to the Australian Waterfall and say "I'm crazy about cars." 3. The main restriction to the development of the internal combustion engine was a lack of practical fuel. They tried using gunpowder, but it didn't work very well. The first viable engines used coal gas. In 1860, Etienne Lenoir designed and patented the first gas engine which was practical. In 1862, he drove a car using his engine design from Paris to Joinville. What horsepower was Lenoir's engine? * One-half horsepower * Three-quarters horsepower * One horsepower * One and one-half horsepower 4. Lenoir used a separate system to compress the gas before it was combusted. He used benzene and an electric spark ignition which means that his engine was the first to use petroleum based fuel. The process of getting the gas into the cylinder, compressing it, combusting it, then exhausting it was developed by another inventor in 1862, Alphonse Bear de Rochas. Go to the Deserted Desert in the Audubon's Wildlife Adventure game and say "How do you design a dream?" 5. Many other inventors worked on developing engines and designing cars. In 1876, Nokolaus Otto patented de Rochas' engine and called it the Otto cycle engine because the actual inventor de Rochas had never patented his invention. With all the simultaneous development on automobiles and engines, the question of who invented the modern automobile is difficult to answer. Credit for inventing the first true automobile, generally goes to which of the following inventors? * Henry Ford * Ransom E. Olds * Nicolas Joseph Cugnot * Karl Benz 6. On Jan. 29, 1886, Karl Benz received patent DRP No. 37435 for his three-wheeled motor carriage. This patent is generally referred to as the "birth certificate" of modern automobiles. The first four wheeled automobile was built by inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. The vehicle had a four-speed transmission and could travel at 10 mph. Go to the Medieval Blacksmith's and say "Cars are the only way to travel!" 7. In August, 1888, William Steinway, the owner of the famous piano factory Steinway & Sons, spoke to Daimler about manufacturing engines in the US. By 1891, Steinway was manufacturing gas powered engines under the name Daimler Motor Company. Concurrent with Daimler's engines were a number of steam powered engines by different inventors. In 1878, the State of Wisconsin offered a $10,000 cash prize for what? * First practical steam car * 200 mile car race * First practical electrical car * Development of a fire engine 8. Seven cars entered the 200 mile road race. Only two cars actually made it to the starting line for the race. The faster car, sponsored by the City of Green Bay, broke down and the Oshkosh car came in first. The average speed of the 200 mile race was 6 mph. The first closed circuit car race was in 1896 in Narragansett Park, RI. Go to Stonehenge and say "Race cars are super fast!" 9. The first gasoline powered car in the US was built in 1893 by Charles and Frank Duryea. These two brothers had a 4 horsepower, single cylinder gas engine and used a horse drawn buggy for a frame. Henry Ford had an engine running by 1893, but he did not build his first car until 1896. He built a few prototypes, but never made any production cars. What company is credited as being the first auto manufacturer in the US? * Duryea Motor Wagon Company * Olds Motor Vehicle Company * Morris & Salom * Daimler Motor Company 10. In the US, the 1901 Curved Dash Oldsmobile, built by Ransom E. Olds was the first automobile to be produced in quantity. Modern systems of mass production of automobiles and use of assembly line techniques are attributed to Henry Ford. In 1908, Ford started manufacturing his Model T. By 1927, this classic was discontinued after more than 18 million cars had "rolled off the assembly line." Go to the inside lobby of the mansion house on the Victorian map and say "The open road keeps calling me!" Answers 1. All of the above 2. Go to the Australian Waterfall in Australia and say: "I'm crazy about cars." 3. One-half horsepower 4. Go to the Deserted Desert in Western Age, and say: "How do you design a dream?" 5. Karl Benz 6. Go to the Medieval Blacksmith in Medieval Age and say: "Cars are the only way to travel!" 7. 200 mile car race 8. Go to Stonehenge in Medieval Age and say: "Race cars are super fast!" 9. Duryea Motor Wagon Company 10. Go to the Mansion Entrance in Victorian Age and say: "The open road keeps calling me!" Category:Quests Category:Epic Quests